Just another blast in the never-ending sniping war by the ACO to make sure that non-French teams have more hoops to jump through than the home teams. Been going on for years. At one time (and I don't know if the rule still exists) it was mandatory to be able to store a suitcase somewhere inside the car. Supposedly it was a box of fixed dimensions so that it would make sure that each entry qualified as "touring" car.
There were several instances where British cars were found to be lacking in the suitcase storage area and failed pre-race tech inspection. The story I remember reading is that the French ACO stewards attempted to fit the suitcase into the storage area sideways and of course it didn't fit. But they had no problems orienting it correctly to make it fit in French cars: Renaults, Matras, Courages, etc. But Jaguars, Aston-Martins, Porsches and several other non-French entries were rejected and had to make last minute changes to suit the suitcase or more accurately, to suit the ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_Club_de_l%27Ouest just to make sure that none of the "foreign" makes had any advantage on the home teams.
Between the ACO and the FIA...well, it makes the political issues with Iran and North Korea look like a child's tea party. As Jim said, "the cowardly French Pigs." Not all French fit this description, but those who make up racing sanctioning bodies certainly seem to.
Raytoddling off to bed for a nap after a very long morning that followed a very long afternoon/evening and a rather short night.
At 10:20 AM 12/21/2009, you wrote:
well, what kind of silly rule is that?!?!?<http://www.autoweek.com/article/20091221/ALMS/912219996>http://www.autoweek.com/article/20091221/ALMS/912219996